Quick: cross compile Rust from MacOS to Linux

1. Add Linux target #

rustup target add x86_64-unknown-linux-musl

We're using the x86_64-unknown-linux-musl target so that the binary is statically linked. The x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu target will dynamically link to libc if using std.

2. Install linker #

brew install FiloSottile/musl-cross/musl-cross

There is a bottle for Catalina (at the time of writing); other versions will compile from scratch. This took me almost 25m.

3. Tell Cargo about the linker #

Create a Cargo config file if you don't have one in your project root or home directory.

mkdir .cargo
touch .cargo/config

Add the linker attribute to point Cargo to the right binary in your Cargo config file:

[target.x86_64-unknown-linux-musl]
linker = "x86_64-linux-musl-gcc"

4. Compile #

cargo build --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl

You'll find the compiled binaries in inside target/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/debug (or release with --release).

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